On Sale (Robbero remix)
Melody and Lyrics: Lonnie Ray Atkinson
Vocals: Lonnie Ray Atkinson
Music Track: ccMixter artist Robbero (http://ccmixter.org/files/Robbero/41166)
Instrumental Sample: ccMixter artist Kara Square (http://ccmixter.org/files/mindmapthat/37554)
This song was written and recorded for the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, regarding their campaign to help the workers of Classic Fashion Apparel in Jordan. Please share and spread the word (and of course get involved). For more information, visit: http://www.globallabourrights.org/campaigns?id=0036.
If you are interested (or you think you know someone that might be interested) in adding your own music (or better vocals) to the mix, you can go to (http://ccmixter.org/files/projectquestion/39352). When you’re done, you can email the mp3 to info (at) lonnierayatkinson (dot) com.
All contributions will be considered Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0.
Lyrics:
Verse 1:
It’s been a minute since sweatshops made your jaw drop
but dropped jaws and weak laws couldn’t stop
an industry that sold you sweatshops were old news
but if sweatshops ain’t enough what if I told you
the woman that made your socks, she got raped
the woman that made your droors, she got raped
the woman that made your shirt, she got raped
the woman that made your bra, she got raped
well if it came from the Classic Fashion factory in Jordan
there’s a chance she might have been raped, beaten, or tortured
trafficked in from Srilanka or Bangladesh
for sewing, no way of knowing about the pound of flesh
the manager would expect – cold sexual predator
every soul in this garment hellhole afraid he’ll get at her
like salt in a wound, weren’t they tricked enough
in addition to these conditions, is this sick enough
sick as that sick feeling every time he walk by
13 hours praying they don’t catch that rat’s eye
if they do, it’s a sleezy motel after the shift
he took their passports, so they’d know not to resist
a free market education on the balance of power
lucky if they get a shower
dumped off at their dorm, destroyed and broken within
go to bed traumatized, wake up and do it again
Chorus 1:
on sale – is this what we get when it's - on sale
what's our money going to - on sale
is our moral code this frail
is there anything that ain’t on sale
on sale – it’s more than just the clothes we buy on sale
I think about our souls and why they on sale
everything we hail
tell me, is there anything that ain’t on sale
Verse 2:
if you repping these goods you got some ‘splaining to do
and if you paying human traffickers, what does that make you
Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Kohl's, Hanesbrand - call ‘em out
your overseas labor policies don't pass the snout
see them monitors you hide behind – (they) straight phony
every grand tour's pure grandeur dog and pony
you think workers are risking an x by their name
it’s slave style, they smile ‘cause they know the game
but when we talked in private, the tears came
interviews like horror shows showing the factory’s shame
but the companies couldn’t hear all that, and they wasn’t trying
and who knows, maybe Walmart’s right, maybe they’re lying
whose word would you take, the Jordanian state
or women you know were trafficked telling us they been raped
I mean what reason do they have to lie, what do they get
in their culture, it’s the worst thing they could ever admit
the most powerful merchants in the history of the world
acting like you can’t do nothing for these girls (yeah right)
you could end this tomorrow if you did your part
instead you proving corporate persons have corporate hearts
Chorus 2:
on sale – all part of the economy – on sale
trafficking and sexual battery – on sale
if they can do dirt this scale
is there anything that ain’t on sale
on sale – it’s more than just the clothes we buy on sale
I think about our souls and why they on sale
everything we hail
tell me, is there anything that ain’t on sale
Verse 3:
picture your niece in this kind of abuse
picture your sister the caboose in that duck duck goose
for everyday low prices, everyday’s a crisis
for women who can’t fathom having lives as nice as
you and I - you and I rock these deals but fail
to recognize it’s our family on sale
you her mother, you her father
that’s your daughter if that’s your dollar
and that realization is greed’s greatest fear
the buck may stop somewhere else, but it starts right here
so grab 'hold their ear and don’t let it go until
they respect our will, big box to capitol hill
from handwritten letters to demonstrations
bad press to fair labor legislation
organize and petition with others to bring the pressure
be thoughtful with your displeasure, your imagination’s the measure
and if you ain't quite sure where you can help in the fight
check the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights
but remember Classic Fashion is just one case
just one ugly face, this free trade disgrace
of race to the bottom line vultures
that's why we need long term change from policy to culture
but in the meantime these women in Jordan need you to care
now tell me what you gonna do for our daughters when they’re...
Chorus 3:
on sale – what about their humanity – it’s on sale
our whole sense of decency – on sale
and ain’t nobody going to jail
tell me, is there anything that ain’t on sale
on sale – it’s more than just the clothes we buy on sale
I think about our souls and why they on sale
everything we hail
is there anything that ain’t on sale
on sale – throw our future in the bag ‘cause it’s on sale
it ain’t on the tag but it’s on sale
if low price is the holy grail
is there anything that ain’t on sale
on sale – it’s more than just the clothes we buy on sale
I think about our souls and why we on sale
everything we hail
is there anything that ain’t on sale